This invention relates in general to the distribution of magazines and similar publications and more particularly to a machine and process for organizing magazines of different titles for the most economical distribution through the postal system.
Current postal regulations provide a favorable mailing rate for magazines which are arranged in bundles, each of which contains only magazines addressed to subscribers of a single postal route. As such, the bundles, in contrast to conventional mail, pass directly through the postal system to the carrier route without sorting and processing at several intermediate stations. However, the regulations require that each bundle contain a minimum number of magazines--currently six--and that it not exceed a prescribed weight.
Many publications have less than the minimum number of subscribers in many of the postal routes to which they are sent, and as a consequence the magazines which are mailed to these routes require higher postage rates.
Also, publishers of magazines on occasion provide supplementary materials with their magazines or with specific issues or perhaps with the issues that are addressed to selected subscribers. For example, if a subscription is about to expire, the publisher will often enclose a card in the last and next to last issue reminding the subscriber of the imminent expiration of the subscription and encouraging him to renew the subscription. Similarly, some publishers distribute advertising material as inserts on a regional basis only. Irrespective of the nature of the insert, the magazine to which it is consigned is normally spread open a slight amount, and the insert is projected into its open pages so that it lodges between two of those pages. While the chances that the insert will enter the magazine are quite good, the chances of the insert remaining with the magazine and reaching the subscriber are somewhat less, because the possibility always exists that the insert will fall out of the magazine as it is handled within the postal system. A better procedure is to wrap the magazine in an envelope, for this not only prevents loss of the insert, but further preserves the appearance of the magazine, particularly its cover.
A principal object of the present invention is to combine or commingle magazines of different titles into common bundles to obtain enough magazines in each bundle to classify for the more favorable postal rate accorded for so-called carrier route sortation. Also, it is an object to apply inserts in the form of cards or even small brochures to selected magazines and to wrap each magazine and any insert applied to it in a transparent envelope so that the insert and magazine do not become separated or soiled in the postal system. Another object is to apply the subscriber's name to the envelope or insert by ink jet printing techniques .